Golden Corral Buffet & Grill — Restaurant in Gulfport

Visited around 5pm or so for Sunday Dinner. There was a group of 4 women employees standing around in the cashier area having a conversation. One of which we were so lucky to be graced by her presence long enough for us to be charged for our meal. For those of you who think I was so rude for approaching the cash register, don't worry, she was able to still turn around throughout the transaction be part of the coworker conversation AND even spoke to us, albeit, very rudely, to "SIGN THIS". After gathering our drinks and finding our table we decided to make a bathroom pit stop before making a plate run. After stepping over a piece of fried chicken to get to the bathroom I don't know why I would have the expectation that the bathrooms would be in any presentable manner. This bathroom made notoriously unclean gas station bathrooms look like palaces. Moving on, the food was "meh", as to be expected. Some dishes were dried out, some weren't bad at all. It's the usual fare, but you always find something tolerable. I don't go for the gluttony as much I like the variety. I stopped by to get a cut of meat before sitting down and the pleasant gentleman behind the glass was coarse and rude as usual and was sure to make me feel he was doing me a favor by DOING HIS JOB. After fighting my way to back to our table we were greeted again by our waitress and reminded to let her know if we needed anything. That is the only reason why I left 2 stars as opposed to 1. I have visited this location a few times over the past year, usually every few months after a main menu rotation/promotion like ribs, etc. I have visited during different days and times. It's always the same experience, extremely poor, except for the waitstaff. They can also be hit or miss, but generally they are friendly even if they curse you under their breath. I can be critical person but I am also a reasonable person. I work hard for my money and I have some small expectations when I choose to spend it at any establishment, whether it is a restaurant or anywhere else. I AM NOT a firm believer that "customers are always right". People are fallible, regardless of what side of the transaction they are on. I understand food service in general, but especially at a place like that isn't the most wonderful work environment. That's why I always go out of my way to be pleasant to those who take care of me so I expect just a little of that in return. I am far from an overly friendly person but I always do my best to be polite. I don't feel I am wrong in thinking that as a paying customer I should feel welcome and that employees should be willing to at least provide the service in the role they were hired for in a polite manner even if they aren't eager to do so. I apologize if this became more of rant than a review. I never leave reviews but I was so disturbed by the experience I wanted to vent. Life is subjective. If you choose to visit GC I hope you have a wonderful meal and get your money's worth. I myself will never be...

It was just on a whim that my family and I decided to dine at Golden Coral. Upon entering the restaurant, it smelled like a combination of a high school cafeteria and a locker room. The smell wasn't pleasant. We probably should have left at that point but decided otherwise. We paid ~$80 for four people. We were told to sit on either side of the restaurant. Once seated, we were greeted by a waiter who brought out our drinks. One of our glasses had a red line at the top as if it were lipstick or lip gloss. We then went to retrieve our plates to find food items we wanted to eat. Many of the plates were dirty. I had to go through a few plates before I found one that didn't have crumbs or left over food stains. I first walked around the entire buffet before I made my selection of food to eat. There was a meat station, seafood station, a station with soul food, fruit station, etc. Many options to choose from. There was also a nice salad station with a variety of toppings. I decided to have baked fish. I was curious about the type of fish. I asked one of the workers what type of fish it was, and he wasn't sure. The fish was in a thin layer of butter and possibly water. Despite this, the fish was ok. I also tried the macaroni and cheese. It was awful. It lacked seasoning, and the noodles were hard. My family tried the fried fish but was only able to split one piece because the restaurant had run out. They said that the fish was ok but could have used a bit more seasoning. It took about 20 minutes for a new batch of fish. By then, the line was long at the fish station. My family decided to get dessert. The dessert options were great. There were cookies, cake, and I believe soft serve yogurt or ice cream. My overall impression of Golden Coral is that I would never dine there again. It's not clean enough, and the smell was unpleasant. I do have suggestions for future diners:

Ask for a to go cup instead of using their glasses for your beverage.

Bring a napkin with you to retrieve your food. You may have to wipe off the plate before use.

Bring your own Tony's, hot sauce, etc.

Don't go with your hopes too high about eating popular items, especially seafood. You may not get any.

If you have questions about the food because it's not labeled properly, don't expect the workers to know.

You get what...

This establishment has always been a past time favorite because of the friendliness, professionalism, and great food. Recently visited and it was not up to par, I did not visit with 5 star expectations but for $78.00 this could have been better by a large margin. When my family and I went in, the two cashier ladies at the front were way more interested in laughing at whatever was on the phone they had as opposed to asking what our drink choices were and preparing our drinks. Once we paid and received our drinks, we proceeded to pick out a table. A large section of the restaurant was closed down with 5 hours remaining before closing. Other large families coming in were broken up into smaller tables that weren't adjacent to each other instead of placing them closer together and accommodating the customers. Once we made it to the buffet, I had three places with caked on food before finding a clean one. This ensued the remainder of our visit. The food was bland, not stocked as usual, not as much a choice as I would've thought. There was more American Mexican choice than hearty American meals. The steak wasn't what it used to be either. The ice cream machine was broken and when our children went to it not knowing it was out of service, rather telling them it was broken, they were shewed away. The waitress wasn't crowded with tables but could not pass by our table to refill our drinks, I had asked if I could go refill them, she said no that she would go get it but that we had just got our drinks. At this point I realized, this was not the service I wanted my family to receive nor was this the kinda interaction that I had recalled in the past. The establishment wasn't over crowded our entire visit. For the price point, quality of food and service, in my opinion, this is not worth it. I would like to see corporate get involved and come in and revamp the place. Renovate and restructure the workforce from Manager to waiter/waitress. Also, need to update their food vendors for a higher quality of food. I didn't even touch on the condition of the Men's restroom... Would...